WORLD CUP COMPETITION

2010-05-21

 

The Cyprus Mail and the monthly football magazine Four Four Two are offering four England 1966 replica shirts (including one keeper’s shirt) to the first four names out of the hat.

All you need to do is answer the four World Cup questions below by Friday June 4, 2010

The answers can be found in the Complete Guide to the World Cup, which is given free with the latest issue of Four Four Two magazine. The Guide rates all 32 teams, looks at players, coaches and tactics and features exclusive interviews with key personalities.

 

QUESTIONS:

 

1) At which stadium will the World Cup Final be played on July 11?

Our View: Language of diplomacy is turning against Cyprus

2010-05-21

THE PRAISE lavished on President Christofias two years ago when he agreed to the resumption of peace talks appears to have vanished. All talk about the Cyprus problem, by UN and EU officials, nowadays, panders to the Turkish side, commending its positive attitude in the peace efforts and stressing the need for an end to the supposed isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.
These sentiments were also voiced by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in an interview he gave to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency this week. He said that comments by Turkey’s prime minister in February had added momentum to the negotiations and was encouraged by statements made by Dervis Eroglu about the resumption of the talks.

Paschalides ‘time to cut petrol prices’

2010-05-21

COMMERCE Minister Antonis Pachalides has urged oil companies to cut the price of petrol at the pump after being handed a report documenting falling global fuel prices.
“According to the report I have just received, a decrease of up to 2.5 cents per litre for 95 Octane, the most common type of petrol, would be completely justified,” Paschalides said.
Contacts were already underway with oil companies, and Paschalides said he was ‘confident’ that they would respond to the call.
Pachalides was choosing his words carefully, perhaps wary of challenging oil companies after a standoff last April when petrol stations across the island shut shop in response to a government-imposed price cap.

Political unity in tatters

2010-05-21

SIX DAYS of debate on the Cyprus problem has left unity on the domestic front in tatters, with President Demetris Christofias cutting a lonely figure just days before the restart of talks next week.
The National Council wrapped up six days of meetings inconclusively late on Wednesday, forcing government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou to admit that the political parties were unable to agree on a joint communiqué. They could not even agree to reconfirm the joint communiqué released after the last set of meetings last September.

Ban hopes Eroglu will follow same ‘constructive path’ as Talat

2010-05-21

THE CYPRUS talks must resume within the established framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, UN Secretary General Ban Ki– moon has stressed in his latest report on his good offices mission in Cyprus.
The report, submitted yesterday to the UN Security Council, covers developments from 25 November 2009 to 30 April 2010.
“Considerable progress was made in the United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Cyprus during the reporting period. The peace talks, in particular the intensive rounds of early 2010, have generated increasing international focus on reaching a lasting solution in Cyprus. There is now a unique opportunity to make a decisive push forward on the talks”, Ban notes.

‘Union rules’ resulted in sick man’s death

2010-05-21

A 40-YEAR-OLD man with mental disabilities was left to die by staff at a private hospice because it “wasn’t in their contractual duties” to provide him with medication after he developed pneumonia, the House heard yesterday.
Making matters worse, his one and only distant relative said she didn’t want a post-mortem, so the death went unnoticed – until yesterday when it was discussed at the House Institutions Committee.
Speaking after the session, Committee Chairman Rikkos Erotokritou of European Party EVROKO said it was unacceptable that mentally disabled people were falling victim to contractual, unionist or other interests, as well as to the “disgusting behaviour” of private hospice staff.

Pack your bags…lots of them

2010-05-21

HERE’S A hot ticket for travelers: low-cost Romanian airline Blue Air has announced it is abolishing extra baggage fees on all flights.
In a press release yesterday, the airline said it was staying ahead of the competition by no longer levying a charge for extra baggage weight.
The airline now allows passengers to check in up to four items of luggage, each with a maximum weight of 32 kilogrammes. The total weight in baggage allowed per person is 128 kilogrammes.
The new rules apply as of today.
Fees for checked-in luggage are unchanged, and are as follows: €10 per item of luggage per trip if the fee has been paid before departure; and €20 per item of luggage per trip if the fee is paid at the airport during check-in.

Serbia will ‘never recognise the north’

2010-05-21

SERBIA yesterday assured the government that it will ‘never’ recognise the breakaway regime in the north.
Serbian President Boris Tadic made the comment during a joint news conference with President Christofias, who in turn described as ‘unacceptable’ the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo.
Speaking via an interpreter, Tadic thanked Cyprus for its steadfast support of Serbia and its EU aspirations, and highlighted the friendship between the two countries which, as he said, date back to the time of Marshall Tito and Archbishop Makarios.
Tadic, on a two-day official visit to the island, earlier held talks with Christofias at the Presidential Palace, where he was greeted with full military honours.

Pope gets a Cyprus stamp, website and special flight

2010-05-21

CYPRUS is getting into the spirit of the Pope’s upcoming visit, for starters issuing a stamp to mark the Pontiff’s trip to the island beginning on June 4.
The postal Services have announced the issue of a special 51-cent stamp, depicting Pope Benedict in and featuring the pillar of St. Paul in Paphos, Benedict’s first stop when he visits the island. The special stamp will be issued on June 4 in sheets of six stamps with First Day Covers costing 85 cents each.
Cyprus Airways (CY) announced yesterday it would have the honour of taking the Pope and his delegation, and media back to the Vatican on a special flight CY7316 on June 6, the day Benedict departs. The Pontiff will fly in with Italian carrier Alitalia.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.